Transposed
by T.F. Allen
Summary: Yumi and Ulrich find themselves mixed up in a fine mess. XANA's at it again...
1. Code: TRANSPOSE

**Just so you know, each scene change is a change in the character who sees the scene unfurl, and may or may not displace the reader temporally. Example: you see the same scene multiple times from multiple different perspectives.**

Yumi fell to her knees, and looked down at the sword in her gut. As her digital structure disintegrated, she watched helplessly as William retrieved his weapon to kill off Ulrich and Odd. The path to Aelita now cleared, he evaporated into a cloud of black smoke and closed in on her at a frightening pace. As the last fragment of Yumi's wireframe vanished from Lyoko, Aelita disappeared into the tower, leaving William screaming with rage at his defeat.

But instead of materializing on Earth as she usually did, she awoke in a vast expanse of… nothing. Yumi was nowhere. She had no body, no avatar, nothing, yet she felt the strange sensation of falling.

Then she was back in the scanner. Gasping for breath, she leaned on the door until it opened. When it did, she fell to the ground, a terrible pain pulsating through her body.

Something was not right.

If Ulrich had possessed a mouth, he would have screamed as he fell through… whatever it was that he was falling through. Unfortunately, his mouth seemed to be missing for some strange reason.

Come to think, so did he.

Where was he? Or where wasn't he? Was this the Digital Sea? No, he hadn't fallen; he'd been shot with an energy blast from William's sword. So the question remained: What was going on?

But, a moment later, it was over and Ulrich fell the the floor of the scanner, feeling incongruously sick to his stomach. As he instinctively reached for it, gasps of shock were added to his cries of pain.

Odd gleefully skipped out the scanner, satisfied with the feeling of a job well done.

Sure, he'd died, but Aelita made it to the tower, and that was all that mattered.

"What? You?" Ulrich screamed from the floor of other scanner, shocked and confused. "What'd I do?" Odd whined in reply. "But if you're you," Yumi pondered aloud from behind, "and that's me…" Ulrich somehow managed to follow her line of thought – unlike Odd – and they both spoke in unison.

"Then I must be…"

As Yumi looked into the scanner opposite hers, she instantly knew what her intuition was trying to tell her.

"Oh, no," she moaned, "not again!"

But as the next scanner opened, it revealed the last person she expected to see. "What?" she screamed in shock and confusion, "You?"

"What?" screamed the creature in the scanner opposite Ulrich. "You?"

"What'd I do?" an oblivious Odd griped. Ulrich ignored him.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "But if you're you," he pondered aloud, realizing what must have happened, "and that's me…"

Now, the other Ulrich joined in the realization. "Then I must be…"

"You!" Yumi and Ulrich screamed together, looking down at themselves.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?" Odd screamed to nobody in particular, confused as to why everybody was making such obvious statements as "I'm me," "you're you," and "Odd is odd."

Instead of answering, Ulrich and Yumi looked up and spoke in unison. One word (well, name, actually) was all they had to say for Odd to understand that something was horribly wrong.

"XANA…"

Aelita placed her hand on the screen. "AELITA" it read, as usual. After the "CODE:" prompt appeared, she touched it again, thinking the program to it. "LYOKO" she inputted telepathically. But after it displayed the code, just before resetting itself, it fluctuated. It was only for a second before she rematerialized, but Aelita was certain she saw her name change to "XANA" and the code change to "TRANSPOSE."

But then it was all gone, and she was on Earth again. She ran out of the scanner, intending to inform Jeremie of what was likely another XANA attack.

Instead, she found herself plowing into Odd. Aelita let out an "EEP!" as she tumbled over him, finally landing with her leg in his spine and his face in hers.

"GEEEEAAAAHHHH!" Odd screamed as his gorgeous figure toppled over like a svelte, purple bowling pin. The reason for his toppling was quickly revealed when a large pink lump landed upon his head, smothering him.

"My face!" Odd yelled from beneath what he hoped was Aelita's _lower back_, "My beautiful face! I can't feel my beautiful, wonderful, magical face!" Not only was he likely to need plastic surgery to repair his nose, but his spine felt like Rosa's spaghetti.

Ulrich and Yumi laughed hysterically as Aelita removed herself from Odd's person. "All right, all right, very funny, now CUT IT OUT!" a furious Odd screamed. The two stopped laughing instantly. "Now what's the problem?" he asked again. "You said a bunch of weird things, but all I caught was 'XANA.' Now spill it!"

"Well…" Ulrich began, only for Yumi to shock everyone else in the room by finishing for him. "Yumi and I have switched bodies…"

**And that's the cliffhanger for ya. Hopefully, you can decipher what part is from what character's perspective… In case you haven't noticed, this story is "A Fine Mess" all over again. XD**

2


	2. Another Fine Mess

**And now, the next installment. This one gets more into the storyline and focuses less on perspective, unlike the last one. In other words, this one not make brain go squishy.**

"Yumi and I have switched bodies," Yumi – who was apparently Ulrich – reluctantly admitted. Aelita was stunned.

So that's what "Transpose" meant. It all made sense now. XANA had scrambled Yumi and Ulrich's programming codes while they were in the void between the real world and Lyoko, causing their minds to be replaced into the wrong bodies. It had happened before, but the last time, it was an accident. Not to mention that it had been Yumi and _Odd_ who were switched. Now it was Yumi and _Ulrich_.

This was not going to go well.

"XANA did this," Aelita announced with certainty. "Brilliant observation, princess," sneered an angry Yu…er…Ulrich.

This was already getting complicated.

"No, I mean, before I was devirtualized, I saw the display change from 'CODE: LYOKO' to 'CODE: TRANSPOSE.' Obviously, _that_," Aelita indicated Ulrich and Yumi… or… Yumi and Ulrich, "is what this new code does."

"So, now what do we do?" _Yumi_ asked with Ulrich's voice. That was strange. The last time this had happened, Yumi and Odd had retained their own voices. Not that it really mattered.

"We go and see Jeremie," she answered.

"There's no doubt about it," Jeremie confirmed. "This was no accident. XANA has somehow gained access to the scanners' programming."

"So?" asked Odd in his usual "I-know-what-I'm-talking-about-when-I-obviously-don't" tone of voice. "Lock him out of the system."

"It's not that simple, Odd," Jeremie groaned. Trying to convince Odd that he was wrong was like trying to feed XANA chocolate chip cookies.

Where'd that analogy come from? Odd's bad jokes seemed to be rubbing off on him.

"I can't just kick XANA out. I have to figure out how he got in _and_ where he's infiltrated the programming _and_ what he did to it _**and**_-"

This time Ulrich-in-Yumi's-body interrupted. "So? Do it," he commanded.

Huh. That just might… Yes; it would; it had to; it couldn't not; it _would_ work! Write this on the calendar: Odd had given Jeremie an idea. As he started typing away furiously at the keyboard, Odd grinned. "See? You and Aelita aren't the only Einsteins around here." Aelita giggled, amused, while Jeremie simply rolled his eyes. Yes, Odd had his moments. But for Odd to call himself an Einstein?

_That_ was taking it too far.

"No, Odd," growled Yumi-in-Ulrich's-body. "You're wrong. They are." Yumi had taken the words right out of Jeremie's mouth, as she often did. They were like siblings that way. He and Yumi had gotten to know each other inside out over the few years they'd all been fighting XANA; yet they were never… erm… in… yeah… uh…

He didn't want to go there. The whole Yumi-clone-flirting-with-him thing had already scarred Jeremie for life. He'd rather not go through that again.

"But," Yumi interrupted his train of thought, much to Jeremie's relief, "why can't we just re-use the program from the last time this happened with me and Odd?"

"Because," Jeremie replied matter-of-factly, "_that_ was a glitch in the scanners, and _this_ is a XANA attack."

"Wait a minute," Ulrich-in-Yumi's-body interrupted. "Are we going to start evaporating like Yumi and Odd did last time?"

"Oh, no," Yumi-in-Ulrich's-body worried. "I'd forgotten about that! Jeremie?"

"I… I don't know!" he stammered. "I need to run a few tests. Get back to the scanners so I can figure out exactly what's going on." As they left, Jeremie activated the PA system located in the scanner room and opened a window displaying the security camera visuals so that he could communicate with them more easily. As the two stepped into the scanners, Jeremie grew uneasy.

Usually, he would just run the transfer program from the supercomputer lab station. This time, he was actually watching two of his best friends in the whole world step inside of those metal death traps. From day one, Jeremie had been horrified of the scanners, not because of claustrophobia or any other irrational fear like that, but because they were dangerous. Jeremie had never told his friends about the secrets of the scanners. He was afraid that if he did, they would never forgive him for letting them go to Lyoko.

The scanners were deadly.

**DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUN… Wow, I'm almost as bad as my sister (ShinkisRule) with these cliffhangers, aren't I? Yeah, don't worry, I will get into that eventually. But I have to talk about other things first. But do not fear, the next bit is comedy gold.**

2


	3. How To Act Like A Man: Lesson 1

**So, you're all hoping to find out what the heck is up with the "deadly scanners," aren't you? TOO BAD! Instead, this story gets a space of Oddity (heh, I made a pun). Odd is fun to write.**

* * *

Odd watched as Jeremie… Oh, heck, Odd had no idea what Jeremie was doing. He turned around and paced back and forth until he heard the supercomputer making weird computer noises. He returned to the lab station to see two big red square things on the screen with X's on them.

"What goes on?" he asked.

"I can't seem to initiate any form of telecommunication with the…" Jeremie stopped and snapped, "Oh, why am I trying to explain? You've no clue what I'm saying!"

"True dat," he admitted.

After some panicked typing on Einstein's part, a familiar symbol danced across the screen as an audio clip of evil laughter from a cartoon Odd remembered watching back when he was little. He recognized the voice of Megatron anywhere. What with the "Yesss" and the "Noooo" and the other goofy things the rubber-duck-obsessed supervillain said.

**

* * *

**_**Transformers: Beast Wars**_**. I just love throwing in cameos. Yeess…**

This rubber-duck obsessed supervillain is Megatron from

* * *

"XANA…" Jeremie groaned. "Yumi, Ulrich," he called into the microphone, "XANA won't let me do anything; come back up here."

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Aelita asked.

"_You_ go back to school; class starts in ten minutes, since I don't know what a Return To The Past will do to those two in their state," he explained. "_I_ stay here and work on hacking back into the system while you cover for me with the teachers."

"I'm staying, too," Aelita insisted.

"I know you want to help them," Jeremie said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "But right now the best thing for them is to have someone to help them through this. You know this is going to be hard for Yumi and Ulrich as much as I do. The way they are, things could get kind of…"

"Awkward," Aelita finished for him.

"Besides," he continued, "don't you think it would be a bit… conspicuous if you and I were both absent at the same time?" His faced grew warm with embarrassment at what he'd implied; he hoped he wasn't visibly blushing.

"I guess," Aelita admitted, equally embarrassed. "So, what's your excuse going to be?"

"I'll leave that to Odd," Jeremie replied. Odd, who had been listening the whole time, pulled a notepad from his pocket and started flipping through it. Walking up to read over his shoulder, Jeremie found that it was titled "Excuses for being absent."

"I hope," Jeremie scolded, "that you only use this for XANA attacks."

"Let's see," Odd thought aloud, ignoring him, "the entire XANA attack was stopped during lunch break, so…" He flipped to a page marked "Missing after lunch."

Jeremie looked over some of the reasons, "choked on lunch and passed out (works for being late up to twenty minutes)," and "important long-distance call from family" struck him as interesting excuses, while "hit on the head during food fight" just sounded stupid.

"Why is 'attending uncle's funeral' crossed off?" asked Aelita, who was also reading along.

"Because of the confused letter from my parents when Delmas sent flowers with a note that said 'Sorry for your loss,' and the detention that followed," he answered painfully. "Ah. Here's one that should work: severe allergic reaction to something in the meatballs."

"We had frog legs for lunch, Odd," Jeremie answered, remembering what he ate of the delicious dish before XANA interrupted their two hour lunch break.

"Yeah, well, I ordered Subway," Odd answered. "Honestly, there are some things in this world that just should not be eaten. You Frenchies eat what you will; I'll stick to my burgers and pizza like a good little American."

"Hamburgers actually come from Hamburg, Germany," Jeremie corrected, "and pizza is obviously Italian." Odd was so uneducated. He didn't know what he was missing.

"Did I hear someone say burgers?" asked Yumi (who was actually Ulrich), emerging for the elevator.

"No," Jeremie simplified. "But I _have_ developed a severe allergic reaction to something in Rosa's frog legs."

"That's terrible!" complained Yu… Ulrich, who hadn't yet caught on. His mood quickly changed, however. "Will you still be able to fix us?"

"No, I'm afraid it's fatal," he joked. "Tell Ael-" he quickly stopped himself, "tell my mother I love her."

"WHAT?"

"He's kidding, Ulrich," Odd explained. "That's his excuse to skip school so he can work on the problem from here."

"Right," said Jeremie, "except for the fatal part. Ulrich and Yumi, I want Odd and Aelita with you at all times in case something happens. Odd, you're with Yumi. And Aelita, you're with Ulrich."

"Why do _I_ get Odd?" Yumi complained.

"Because you're a guy now, and Odd knows how to help you act like Ulrich better than Aelita does. The same goes for you, Ulrich."

"Fine," Yumi groaned with an Ulrich sounding groan.

"Good work, Ulrich!" Odd grinned and slapped her/him on the back. "OW! HEY! What was was that for?"

"Lesson 1: Guys hit guys when they do stuff right – usually on the back or shoulder," Odd instructed. Jeremie just laughed. He never did get involved in such strange customs, but he did know enough to understand that the pain wasn't intentional.

Usually.

"So what do we do when they do something wrong?" Yumi asked innocently, though Jeremie knew what she was planning. He didn't want to miss this.

"We punch them in the face!" he proclaimed. "Wait, what are you-?"

Yumi proceeded to utilize her slightly larger fists to obey her new master.

"AUGH! THE FACE! AGAIN WITH THE FACE?" Odd screeched once the deed was done.

"All right, you two, knock it off," Jeremie instructed. "We don't want Odd in the hospital, too."

"Well…" Yumi considered.

"Sure thing, Jeremie," Ulrich answered.

"So," Yumi asked Ulrich, "What class do I have next?"

"Oh, uh, Physics," he answered. "But Mrs. Hertz is out of town, so there'll be a sub: Mr. Flambeau. From what I've heard, you'll do nothing. How about me?"

"A.P. History with Mr. Lyndevau," she groaned.

"Oh, no…"

**

* * *

**

Mr. Lyndevau has made a cameo in one of my sister's stories as well –

_**Life Lessons**_**. He's based off of our evil history teacher; in fact, his name is an anagram of that teacher's name. So, to anyone who goes to the same school that I go to, enjoy the next update.**


End file.
